Last post showed the fun side of Christmas, but here’s something a bit more about what your Sunday school teacher called ‘the true meaning of Christmas’.

It’s not a poem, strictly speaking, but it’s certainly poetic. I came across it last year while flicking through a 1940s or 50s travel book on Italy that my wife bought. I thought it so beautiful that I wrote it down in my notebook – yeah, I blog about poetry, so I do that kind of thing.

O Re del Cielo

Vieni in una grotto

Al freddo e al gelo.

Pargoletto divino e bello,

Io ti vedo qui a tremar.

O Dio beato ahi! Quanto ti costo

L’avermi amato.

I didn’t bother writing the translation the book provided as I could vaguely remember it, but – alas! – my wife unbeknownst to me had sold the book on. Here’s a literal translation.